The present invention relates to shipping containers and more specifically to stackable containers for shipping and displaying goods that cannot be easily stacked.
Since the 1980""s, the members-only warehouse club industry has become popular with the buying public. These members-only warehouse clubs maintain low prices on their products sold in their club stores by discarding many of the frills and luxuries associated with traditional retail stores. In place of using the store front to display the products while much of the stock remains in a rear warehouse area, club stores often display their goods as delivered from the suppliers on shipping pallets. This method cuts costs associated with the traditional method of having store employees unpack the goods from the pallets and display them for the purchasers. The savings associated with goods on pallets may influence club stores to prefer dealing with suppliers who will ship their goods on such pallets.
Unfortunately, not all goods can be easily stacked and shipped on pallets. For example, nursery plants cannot readily be stacked upon each other during shipping. In the past, nurseries have had to xe2x80x9cfloor loadxe2x80x9d the plants. Floor loading consisted of manually loading each potted plant into a truck or trailer. After a first layer of plants were loaded, subsequent layers would be loaded by carefully moving aside the stems and leaves of the plants from the lower layer and placing potted plants strategically on top. Of course, this floor loading was time consuming and often caused damage to the plants.
A second method improved upon the floor loading method. In this method, metal shelves were installed in the shipping trailer. Plants were then loaded onto the various shelves. This decreased the amount of damage to the plants, but was still time consuming. In addition, the shelving units were heavy and expensive. The weight of the shelves increased shipping costs and the shelves would need to be returned to the nursery supplier at the supplier""s expense.
A third way to ship plants was described in the pending application titled xe2x80x9cSTACKABLE TRANSPORT CRATExe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 09/382,220, filed Aug. 24, 1999. In that application, a crate system of cardboard or similar material is described consisting of a bottom cap, crate walls, and a top cap. The bottom and top caps are xe2x80x98lidsxe2x80x99 with the same shapexe2x80x94a deck surrounded by front and side walls. To function as the bottom cap, the lid is turned so that the walls extend upward from the deck. To function as the top cap, the lid is turned the opposite way, so that the walls extend downward from the deck. In this way, the two caps and the crate walls can be used to form a single crate. Once the crate is constructed, it can be filled with goods that cannot be easily stacked, such as potted plants, gift baskets, lamps, buckets of cut flowers, or gifts such as stuffed animals holding small balloons or flags, among other things. For goods that require ventilation, such as plants, the crate is equipped with a series of vents. The crate walls can be configured so that they do not extend fully around the crate""s perimeter. This allows light and additional ventilation to reach the goods.
To transport crates after the crates have been filled with the plants or other goods, a set of crates can be stacked upon each other on shipping pallets. For example, a pallet could be loaded with two stacked crates. Then a second pallet could be placed on top of the crates followed by two more crates. To stabilize the crates during transport, strapping would be applied around the stack.
As with many inventions, the cardboard crates described in the above-referenced patent application, are not without their limitations. First, when a second crate is stacked upon a first crate, the second crate has a tendency to slide around. Sliding of the stacked crates may cause problems during transport.
Second, although cardboard offers significant weight savings to the prior metal shelving approach, the amount of cardboard used in the stackable crates described in the patent application can be decreased. One will noticed that all interior crates that are stacked have a bottom tray positioned next to another crate""s top lid. It would be an improvement to replace the dual bottom/lid approach with a single divider which acts as both a lid to a lower crate and as a bottom to an upper crate.
A third limitation to the previously described crates is due not to the shipping of the goods, but rather to the use of the crates after arrival at the shipment destination. As mentioned above, club stores often display their goods as delivered from the suppliers on shipping pallets. Although club stores do not expend as many resources for displays as do retail stores, it is beneficial to present the goods in as pleasing manner as possible. Being able to better display goods shipped in crates would be an improvement.
This invention can be regarded as crate-tray element for a transport crate, the transport crate used for transporting and displaying goods that cannot be easily stacked. The crate-tray includes a tray-deck; tray-walls formed along the tray-deck""s perimeter; and a series of tabs. The tabs can be incised on the tray-deck and positioned with their corresponding hinges generally along the tray-deck""s edges. Such jointed-tabs are capable of opening from the deck to an extended position. The tabs can also be configured so that they are part of the folds that are used to construct the tray-deck from a single piece of cardboard or similar material. These wall-tabs do not have hinges.
The crate-trays have three primary uses. First, they can be used in forming a series of stacked crates. A crate bottom forms the foundation of a stack of crates. Crate walls are added on top of the crate bottom. Then a crate-tray of the present invention acts as the crate""s lid as well as the bottom for the next crate. Another set of crate walls are added on top of the crate-tray to form the second crate. The crate-tray""s tabs (either of the jointed-tab variety or the wall-tab variety) assist in buttressing the crate walls. Once the desired number of crates are achieved, a crate lid is added to close the topmost crate of the stack.
A second use of the tray-crate is to replace the crate bottom and crate lid previously described. In such a situation, a crate-tray forms the foundation of the crate stack. Crate walls and crate-trays are alternately placed to form a series of crates. A final crate-tray is used as a lid to close the topmost crate of the stack.
The third use of the tray-crate occurs after the stacked crates are at their destination. The tray-crate at the top of the stack, which is acting as a lid, can be inverted and secured to form a display shelf. Some of the goods within the crates can be removed and placed on this display shelf.